Armor Rot
by Bloody Simpson Chibi
Summary: Erza get afflicted with a curse that's slowly draining her magical and life energy. It's up to Natsu, Grey, and Lucy to save their teammate but can they do it in time? Rated T
1. Chapter 1

**Armor Rot**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail**

 **Chapter 1: An unexpected occurrence**

"This way!" Erza shouted. The Fairy Queen led her teammates further into the cave. "Mist can't be that far ahead. The team had taken a job to hunt down a thief named Mist that had been stealing precious gems throughout Fiore. She was named for her magic that allowed her to transform into mist in order to get away with her crimes. Natsu, Grey, Lucy, Happy, Wendy, Carla, and Erza tracked her down to a cave and were chasing after her. At last they caught up to the thief.

She had short brown hair and wore a top and shorts that were purple with golden trim. A scar appeared next to her navel and she had bright green eyes.

"We got you now! Natsu chanted. Grey stepped forward. "We don't wanna hurt you. If you come with us quietly-"

"Mist Cloud Blast!" Mist vanished in a explosion of smoke, leaving the entire team gasping and wheezing, except for Erza who was already running toward the the direction the the mist was escaping to.

"You will not escape the hands of justice!" She cried out. Erza knew that Mist's magical energy was almost out from hiding from Fairy Tail all day. In any moment, she would have to revert back to human form. Near the end of the cave, Mist popped back into her true form unwillingly. Erza was already standing before her.

"Now I will give you one more chance. Come with us peacefully or I'll be forced to unleash the wrath of Fairy Tail on you." Erza requiped a sword in her hand. Mist's eyes widened but to Erza's surprise, she smiled.

"So your a requip wizard huh? Perfect." Mist put her hands together as if she were praying. "Hidden Spell of The Crow! Armor Rot!" A black spell rune appeared in front of Mist. Before Erza could react, the spell struck her and knocked her to the ground.

"Erza!" Natsu and the others were heading towards the two female wizards.

"Crap! I'll see you later Requip Wizard." Mist used the last of her magic energy to turn into fog and slip away from the group as the rushed to Erza's side.

"Erza!" Lucy shouted. "Are you okay?"

Erza picked herself up. She felt the wind knocked out of her but was otherwise okay. "Yes I'm fine. I'm afraid Mist got away however."

"It's alright." Natsu assured. "We'll find her. Let's head home for now. Cana will show us where to go next."

"Yeah!" Happy agreed. "I've been meaning to get some fish in my stomach anyway!"

The group began to walk out of the cave with Erza lagging behind.

"Erza." Wendy asked. "Are you sure your okay?"

"I'm fine." Erza snapped. She felt weak as if her energy had been snapped. Unbeknownst to everyone, Erza's armor began to crack.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Visible Signs of Distress.**

"Hooray for the Thunder Legion!"

"Good job guys!"

"You sure showed those bandits!"

Fairy Tail was celebrating the victory of the Thunder Legion over a team of bandits. Freed, Evergreen and Bickslow were basking in the glory but their leader Laxus was staying humble and silent. Nevertheless, the entire guild was celebrating. All except for Natsu.

"This stinks." He complained. "How come Laxus and his team manage to complete their job and we have to go home empty handed?"

"Maybe because the bandits they caught couldn't turn into mist." Grey replied. He was only clad in his boxers.

"You trying to pick a fight with me Ice Boy!?" Natsu got ready to fight.

"Bring it on Flame Brain!" Grey did the same."

"Guys! Stop fighting before Erza makes you!" Lucy cried out. She knew how scary Erza was when she was angry, Mirajane approached the trio with refreshments in hand. "Speaking of which, where is Erza?" She asked."

"I don't know." Lucy admitted. "She said she would meet us here today but I haven't seen her."

"Maybe she's fishing for cakefish!" Happy suggested.

"Is that even a real fish?"

Before Happy could answer, there was a loud thud at the entrance of the guild hall. Erza entered the building and approached the group. To everyone's surprise, she was wearing a green sweater instead of her armor.

"Hey Erza!" Natsu shouted. "Like the new look!"

"What's wrong?" Grey asked. "A little cold?"

"The strangest thing happened after we returned from our mission." Erza confessed. "My Heart Kreuz armor broke apart. I think it might have something to do with the spell Mist cast on me."

"That's awful." Lucy said fretfully.

"I'll be alright. I already made plans to restore the armor and I have extra non-requip clothes for cases such as this."

"Yeah well don't worry." Natsu assured. "Well make sure Mist gets put behind bars yet."

"Unless Flame Brain here messes it up again." Grey remarked.

"What do you mean!? Your the one who loused everything up!"

"Boys. I'm only going to ask you to stop once. So please stop." Erza said calmly, surprising Lucy, Happy and Mirajane.

"Did Erza just try to stop Natsu and Grey's fighting without violence?" Mirajane asked. Happy hugged Lucy's leg. "Lucy, I'm scared."

"Me too Happy. Me too."

Natsu and Grey were too busy arguing with each other to notice Erza's offer of peace. Now she was getting angry.

"That's enough!" Erza requped into her Heaven's Wheel Armor and summoned a swarm of swords, scaring Natsu and Grey.

"How many time I have to tell you to d- ack!

All of a sudden, Erza doubled over in pain. The swords fell to the floor and shattered as if they were made of glass. Erza's armor was beginning to crack as well, flaking off of her body little by little, Most distressing of all were the violet markings that traced over Erza's veins, causing even more pain.

"Oh no Erza!" Lucy rushed to her friends side while calling out to Natsu and Grey. "Get help! Quickly.

As Erza slipped into unconsciousness, she could see the rest of her guild rushing to her aid.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: From bad to worse**

As Erza opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was Mirajane and Lucy's worried faces staring down back at her. She was in the infirmary where the guild took care of their sick or injured. As she rose up, Erza noticed she was wearing a blue gown.

"Erza! Don't try to stand up!" Lucy pleaded.

"How long have I been out?" Erza asked.

"Only two hours." Mirajane said optimistically.

Erza didn't say anything but instead looked down at her gown.

"Oh that." Lucy said. "I had Virgo give you something to wear since your armor broke. It's not stylish but it was an emergency."

Erza remained silent for a minute or two then she climbed out of bed.

"Erza no!" Lucy exclaimed. "You can't be out of bed just yet!"

"Requip!" Erza glowed and her gown was replaced by her Black Wing Armor. Just as suddenly, the armor began to crack and break apart. Violet lights glowed from Erza's veins yet again and she cried out in pain.

"Erza!" Lucy and Mirajane tried to approach their friend but Erza gestured to them to stop.

"Requip!" Erza's breaking Black Wing Armor was replaced by her Flame Empress Armor but it started to crack as well. The violet marking glowed even brighter and caused Erza even more pain.

"Erza please stop!" Lucy begged but her cries fell on deaf ears."

"Requip!" Erza changed into her Giant's Armor but the result was the same. It broke down and the violet markings got even brighter. As the armor crumbled, Lucy and Mirajane slowly approached their broken and nude friend and helped her back into bed.

"This is more serious than I thought." Mirajane's voice was filled with worry.

"Erza? Can you hear me?" Lucy asked. Erza weakly opened her eyes and turned to Lucy. "Mist...put a...spell...on...me...Armor Rot...I...I need...to know...what-"

Lucy placed her finger on Erza's lips. "I'll look it up for you. Don't worry. But promise me in the meantime, ntil we know more about what's going on, no more requiping."

Erza smiled and nodded before falling back into unconsciousness. Lucy turned to Mirajane. .

"I'll get the guys and we'll find what this "Armor rot" stuff's all about. You take care of Erza and make sure she doesn't requip again. I'll also get Virgo to give us more clothes for her."

"Of course." Mirajane said happily. Lucy left the room to find Grey and Natsu.

"I sure hope we find out what exactly that Armor Rot thing is." Lucy thought. "And how to stop it."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: Armor Rot**

Lucy, Natsu and Grey were at the library trying their best to find out what Erza had been afflicted with. Sadly, they were not having much luck. "Come on guys!" Lucy shouted as she flipped book through book. "We have to find that spell for Erza's sake!"

"I'm trying!" Natsu shouted as he tore from book to book. "Why is it so hard to find a freaking spell!?"

"Less complaining, more looking Flame Brain." Grey said in a serious tone. He was really worried about Erza. They all were.

"Keep looking." Lucy said. "We have to find that spell no matter what." Suddenly, Lucy felt something wet and slimy fall on her head. She swiped it off with her hand and saw it was a piece of fish.

"EWWWWWWWW!" Lucy threw the fish away and looked up to see Happy on top of a book shelf eating a whole tuna.

"Happy! We're supposed to be looking for the Armor Rot spell, not taking a lunch break!" Lucy threw a book at Happy in anger. He dodged it but hit the bookcase by accident, causing it to fall over.

"Happy! Look what you did! Why I oug..." Lucy noticed a book opened among the rubble. ARMOR ROT was the header. Happy dropped down to it, rubbing his head.

"Happy! You're a genius!" Lucy scooped Happy up and embraced him in a hug.

"Lucy!" Happy cried out. "I can't breathe through your enormous ta-tas!"

Lucy dropped Happy and called for Natsu and Grey to come over to her."

"Happy found the spell we're looking for." She exclaimed happily."

"That's great! Let's read it!" Natsu said.

The group went to a nearby table and Lucy opened the book and started reading.

"Armor Rot is one of 10 Hidden Spells of the Everleaf tribe created to combat enemies. It is considered the Curse of the Crow and is one of the most deadliest of the spells."

Everyone became silent.

"The spell only affects wizards with Requip magic, hence the name Armor Rot. When an afflicted wizard uses their Requip magic, the armor or weapon summoned begins to break down and their magical energy becomes weaker. The life energy of the wizard is also slowly depleted until the wizard expires. The only way to cure Armor Rot is to have the original caster make the afflicted wizard laugh."

"That's the cure?" Grey asked dumbfounded. "Almost sound like a bad joke."

"Well that's the only cure the book gave us and if what it said is true, Erza's in danger."

"We better tell Erza and the guild what we found out." Natsu and Happy said in unison. Grey and Lucy nodded in agreement but before they could leave they were stopped by Levy.

"After you clean up this mess!" She said.

The group turned back to the fallen bookcase and sighed.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: From Worse to Grim**

Natsu, Happy, Grey and Lucy ran to the main hall where everyone was gathered around something. The sight confused the group.

"What's going on?" Lucy asked. Her question was answered by a loud shout.

"Requip!"

"Oh no!" Lucy and the group rushed into the crowd and sure enough, Erza was the center of attention, her Adamantine armor flaking off her body in pieces.

"Erza! What are you doing!?" Lucy cried out.

"I'm sorry Lucy!" Mirajane cried. "I tried to stop her but she wouldn't listen!"

"Requip!" Erza's Purgatory armor appeared on her body, only to began cracking as well. She cried out in pain.

"Someone stop her!"

"She's gonna get herself killed!"

Please stop!"

The guild members cried out in fear and panic for their friend but, as if caught in a trance, she simply ignored them.

Requip!"

Her Japanese Cloth appeared on her body. The commotion died down, everyone somewhat hopeful the this requip wouldn't be affected by the Armor Rot since it wasn't really armor. That hope was shattered when the cloth began to disintegrate and Erza's vein's lit up once more.

Lucy ran toward Erza and held her close.

"Erza please stop. You promised!" But Erza didn't hear her.

"Re-

Erza was knocked toward the wall by the giant fist of Master Makarov. "Snap out of it Erza! Snap out of it!" Lucy landed with a thud onto the guild floor. "You've could've warned me you were gonna do that."

Erza slowly rose up while rubbing her head. Natsu quickly rushed over and covered her with his vest.

"Natsu I" Erza tried to speak but erupted into a coughing fit.

"Don't try to talk Erza." Natsu said. "Let's just get back to your room."

"I..I don't know what came over me. I lost control"

"The curse is obscuring your judgement. You need to rest" Makarov said. Natsu and Erza nodded and the fire dragonslayer walked the fairy queen to her room as Lucy approached Makarov.

"It's getting worse." He said.

"We found a cure but it's not gonna be easy to get." Lucy stated.

"Why is that?"

Lucy explained to everyone what Erza had been afflicted with and what to do about it."

"Armor Rot?" Levy said worriedly.

"And the only way to cure it is for Mist to make Erza laugh?" Wendy asked.

"I'm afraid it's our only choice. Otherwise Erza will..." Lucy began to tear up.

"Seems simple enough." All eyes were on Laxus and his Thunder Legion who had smiles of determination on their faces. "We just catch this girl and have her make Erza laugh right? Then let's do it."

"The Thunder Legion is at your service." Freed bowed.

"Me and my babies will do anything to save our friend!" Bickslow shouted.

(save our friend save our friend)

"Erza would the the same for us." Evergreen said.

Lucy smiled. "Thank you so much!"

Grey also smiled as he looked up. "Don't worry Erza. We're going to save you!"


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: The Hunt**

Natsu, Grey Happy, Lucy and the Thunder Legion traveled back to the town where they first encountered Mist. Natsu didn't like the idea of working with Laxus or taking the train again but he was willing to do both for Erza. They were all in this for Erza's sake. The group spent the entire day searching the town for Mist but to no avail. Day had become evening and the group met up to decide what the next course of action should be.

"This is so boring!" Natsu whined! "How are we supposed to beat up this Mist chick if we can't find her!?"

"The goal is to capture her, not beat her up." Grey grimaced.

"Why not both?" Natsu rebutted. "She deserves it"

"We all want to see justice for what happened to Erza." Lucy spoke up. "But more importantly we want to cure her Armor Rot and we need Mist in order to do that."

"Well it's clear that she isn't in this town anymore." Laxus said. "Do you guys have any other ideas as to where she might be?"

"I'm afraid not." Grey admitted. "The truth is we don't know all that much about her except that she can turn into mist at will and apparently is a member of the Everleaf tribe."

"That doesn't make sense." Evergreen said. "The Everleaf tribe is known for being a peaceful people. Those spells only exist in self-defense.

"Maybe Mist is a rouge?" Freed suggested.

"Maybe she stole the spell from them." Bickslow accused.

"Everyone calm down." Lucy demanded. "Whatever the reason or how she got that ability doesn't matter. What matters is catching her and saving Erza."

"Lucy's right!" Grey shouted. Now he was shirtless. "We have to save Erza no matter what!"

Suddenly there was an explosion from the building across the street, catching the entire group's attention. From the explosion walked out Mist with bags full of gold.

"It feels so good to be bad!" She shouted.

Natsu rushed out of the building he was in, his fist engulfed in flames.

"There you are!" He shouted.

"Oh crap!" Mist dropped the gold and transformed, slinking away into the darkness of the night.

"Not this time" Natsu shouted as he followed the mist.

"Dammit Natsu." Grey shook his head. "Let's help him out."

The group rushed after their hot-blooded friend and Mist.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: Natsu vs Mist**

Natsu followed the mist into the dark alleyways of the city. He was in a blind fury, ready to turn Mist into ash for what she had done.

"Fire Dragon Roar!"

He shot a huge wall of flames at the mist but it simply dissipated. He couldn't hurt her when she was in this form.

"Fire Dragon Iron Fist!"

Natsu continued to punch, kick and shoot flames at the mist but nothing happened. He felt a tug on his legs and tripped. Mist turned back into her human form and kicked Natsu in the teeth. He let out another burst of flame but she turned into mist and dodged it.

"You're gonna pay for hurting my friend!" Natsu shouted. Although he tried to push it out of his mind, he couldn't stop thinking about what would happened to Erza if he failed to bring Mist back with them.

His thoughts were interrupted by a punch to the head, courtesy of Mist. Natsu grabbed her ankle and flung her toward the stone wall. Before she could collect herself, Natsu returned a punch to her stomach.

"I don't know why you gave Erza that curse, but your going to fix it whether you want to or not!" Natsu shouted as gave out another punch. Mist transformed again before he could land the hit. Natsu groaned in frustration.

"HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO BEAT YOU WHEN YOU KEEP TURNING INTO A FREAKING CLOUD.!?"

Natsu unleashed enormous flames from all over his body, hoping the intense heat would force Mist back into human form. But the evil mist simply rose above the flames.

"Lighting Dragon Roar!" A blast of lighting stuck the mist, forcing the thief back into her human form.

"That's some pretty impressive magic you got there." Laxus said. "But you made one fatal mistake when you cursed Erza.

Mist tried to get up but was pelted with needles.

"You messed with a member of Fairy Tail." Evergreen said. Freed also showed up and casted runes to keep Mist in place.

"And when you mess with one of us, you mess with all of us!

Bickslow and Lucy also showed up.

"What the heck man!?" Natsu whined. "I almost had her!"

"I saw you struggling." Laxus jeered

"I was not!" Natsu defended.

"Yes you were."

I was not!"

Freed stepped in. "If Laxus says you were than you were."

"Stay out of this, Mosshead!"

Um..guys!?" Lucy said.

"What?" Natsu, Laxus and Freed said in unison.

"Look."

While Freed was distracted, Mist manged to slip out of the rune trap, once again in the form of mist.

"Better luck next time losers!" Mist said as shapeless essence slipped over the nearby building.

Lucy hit Natsu over the back of the head.

"Now look what you did!" Lucy shouted. "How are we gonna save Erza now!?"

Before Natsu could answer, they heard a shriek and the sound of ice freezing from the other side of the building. The group ran around the building were they found Grey, now in just his boxers, standing next to something he flash froze.

"Grey did you catch Mi-" Lucy didn't have to answer that question as she saw Mist frozen in a rather...awkward pose.

"I don't think we should have any trouble making Erza laugh." Grey smiled.

 **(sorry. I know. sucky chapter)**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8: Comfort**

Mirajane was cleaning the bar as everyone began to leave the guild for the night.

"Are you sure Erza will be okay?" Levy asked with concern in her voice.

"She'll be fine. This is Erza we're talking about." Mirajane assured her. As soon as Levy left however, Mira's smile faded.

"At least I hope so." She said to herself.

After she was done cleaning, Mirajane prepared some food for Erza and went to give it to her. As she approached the room however, she could here grunting and cracking.

"Oh no."

Mirajane wasted no time opening the door and sure enough, there was Erza, her Farewell Armor crumbling away.

"Requip!"

"Erza stop!" Mirajane wrapped her arms around Erza as her Lighting Empress Armor began cracking. The purple marking glowed brighter than ever and Erza winced in pain. Mirajane carried Erza back to her bed and threw a blanket over her. She was shivering.

"Why did you do that?" Mirajane shouted. "Do you have any idea what will happen if you keep this up!?"

Erza said nothing. She only looked up at Mirajane with tears in her eyes.

"Th-The T-Tower of H-H-Heaven." She whispered.

"What?"

"Ever since the Tower of Heaven, I've needed armor like a security blanket. That's why I wear it all the time. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I can't accept this curse because I can't accept not having my armor." Erza lowered her head in shame after admitting this. Mirajane stood still then she nodded.

"I understand. But you can't forget you have friends who'd do anything for you. As we speak, Natsu and the others are finding the person who put this curse on you so you can be cured."

"Really?" Erza weakly smiled.

"Yes. But in the meantime, just stay in bed and rest." Mirajane tucked Erza in and left. As she was returning to the main hall the front doors burst opened and a band of thugs ran in.

"Come on guys!" The ringleader shouted. "With Titania incapacitated and everyone else gone, This guild's treasure is out for the taking!"

"Not so fast!" Mirajane transformed and sent five of the thugs flying with one swing of her arms. She rushed towards the gang leader who just smiled.

"I figured there'd be at least one wizard left so I came prepared."

He was holding a staff with a strange red jewel at the top. The man slammed the staff down as he shouted "Magic Lockdown!"

Mirajane involuntarily change back before being punched in the stomach by the man.

"Too bad this spell only works every 24 hours." The man said. "But all the other wizards gone nothing will stop us from taking what we want!

From the bedroom, Erza could hear strange men laughing and knew something was wrong. It hurt just to get out of bed but she had to defend the guild, even if it cost her her life.

"Requip!"


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9: Final Conflict**

Natsu was the first to see the cloud of smoke rising from where the guild was. He didn't say anything. He just stared. It didn't take long for Grey and the others to notice as well.

"What the hell happened?" Grey asked.

"I don't know but we better act quickly." Laxus turned to his thunder legion. "Keep an eye on Mist."

Freed, Bickslow, and Evergreen nodded in unison as Natsu, Grey, Lucy and Laxus ran towards the guild.

"Please let Erza be okay." Lucy thought as she ran.

* * *

As her Flight Armor began to crack, Erza contemplated her life with the guild. She requiped into her Robe of Yuen and began taking out the thugs left and right.

 _"I've spent the better years of my life in this guild."_

The robe began to come apart and Erza could feel her veins growing more and more polluted by the dark magic coursing through her. She fought trough the pain and requiped into her Morning Star armor.

 _"I've made friends who I would gladly give my life for."_

She took out 20 more thugs before her armor cracked once again. She requiped into her Armadura Fairy armor and knocked what thugs remained off their feet. The only one standing was the ring leader.

"So it's true." He said. "The once great Titania has been afflicted with Armor Rot. How sad."

Erza tried to say something but the pain silenced her.

"Won't be long before you die." The Ringleader teased.

"Then I will spend the final moments of my life fighting for Fairy Tail!" Erza charged at the Ringleader with all her might. She swung her sword at him but he blocked it with his staff. The Ringleader thrust his staff into Erza's stomach .

"Crystal Light Explosion."

The following blast sent Erza flying into the nearby town fountain. By then, very little of her armor remained.

"Requip!

Erza, now wearing her Sea Empress Armor, rushed toward the Ringleader. Every vein in her body was on fire and she felt like she would pass out any second but she couldn't give up now. Not when her guild was in danger.

 _"I have no regrets."_

"Fire Dragon Iron Fist!"

Natsu punched the Ringleader in the head, sending the man flying back into the guild.

"Nastu?"

Another wave of pain enveloped Erza as her Sea Empress Armor cracked. Lucy ran to her side.

"I'll take care of Erza. You take that jerk out!" She yelled.

"Right!" Natsu rushed toward the Ringleader just as he was getting up.

"Crystal Light Explosion!"

Natsu dodged the attack by jumping into the air where he launched a Fire Dragon Roar at the Ringleader. The Ringleader avoided the attack only to get frozen in place by Grey.

"Ice Make Hammer!"

Grey hit the Ringleader over the head, knocking him to the floor.

"Crystal Light Spiral!"

The light attack sent Natsu and Grey flying but as the Ringleader turned to get away, he saw Laxus blocking his path.

"Lighting Dragon Roar!" Laxus blasted the man with sheer lighting. He fell back to the floor, unconscious.

"Thanks for the save Laxus." Grey said. Natsu just mumbled.

The trio went back to Erza and Lucy. Erza was now wearing a long green dress from the Celestial world and Lucy was patching her up. Her veins were dark purple.

"We don't have much time." Lucy whimpered. "We have to get her to Mist now!

"Right. I'll carry her." Natsu said as he lifted Erza up. Erza was slowing losing consciousness but as she faded in and out she could see the blackend Ringleader walking toward the group, staff raised.

"Crystal Lig-"

"Requip!"

Erza summoned a sword which she sent flying toward the Ringleader. It sliced through his staff like butter and the man was so shocked he couldn't move, giving Natsu enough time to knock him out with a punch.

"Erza!" He said. "Don't worry. We have the cure. Just hang on a little longer.

"N-Natsu." Was all Erza managed to say before everything went black.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10: The Worse is Over.**

"Erza?...Erza?"

Erza slowly opened her eyes and the first thing she saw was Natsu's relived face.

"Erza! You're awake!"

"Natsu? Where am-" Erza winced in pain as the violet marks on her body grew brighter.

"Don't get up." Natsu demanded. "We have the cure for the Armor Rot but you need to close your eyes first."

"W-What?"

"Just do it!"

Erza reluctantly closed her eyes and after a few moments she could hear something being dragged in front of her, along with a familiar voice.

"Let me go! Haven't I been humiliated enough?"

"You brought this on yourself for cursing our friend." Erza could hear Lucy talking. "This is the only way to break the curse so suck it up and stop being a baby.

"Alright." Natsu's voice spoke. "You can open your eyes now Erza."

Erza did as she was told and she could not believe what she was seeing. It was Mist. She was frozen up to her neck and her body was completely nude. She was stuck in a position of covering herself.

"It turns out when Mist changes back into her human form, her clothes take half a second longer to catch up." Grey explained. "I managed to freeze her just before that half second."

Erza just sat there, dumbfounded. A smirk crawled on her face, followed by a giggle. All of a sudden, Erza burst out laughing. Everyone's response was to smile and laugh with her. Mist, on the other hand, blushed so hard her face was as red as Erza's hair.

The purple cracks along Erza's body started to disappear and she felt more and more of her strength return. She got up and with a loud voice shouted "Requip!" There was a flash of light and the celestial dress she was wearing disappeared. In it's place appeared her Heart Kreuz armor, cracked but intact.

"It's gone! Erza shouted in delight. "The Armor Rot is actually gone!"

Everyone cheered in delight, except for Mist who was still blushing.

"Okay Grey. Let Mist go." Lucy ordered. Grey unfroze Mist and her clothing finally returned to her body.

"I suppose now we should turn her in huh?" Happy asked.

"Sure seems like it." Natsu agreed but I don't know ho-

All of a sudden, Mist threw a smoke bomb in the middle of the group, blinding everyone.

"Shit!" Laxus shouted.

"Somebody stop her!" Natsu demanded.

By the time the smoke cleared, Mist was gone.

"Dammit!" Grey yelled. "She got away."

Natsu agreed. "Let's go after her!"

Before the Fire Dragon Slayer and the Ice Demon Slayer could run off, they were startled by a loud "STOP!" It was Erza.

"Let her go for now." She said. "We'll tell the guild and go after her another day."

"Erza?" Lucy asked. "Are you sure?"

"Yes. I am."

The group went back home and told Master Makrov what had happened. The Ringleader and his goons were arrested and the jewel for Mist's capture doubled. Erza was able to repair all of her damaged armor and the whole situation inspired Levy to further investigate the Everleaf Tribe.

After Mirajane recovered,she and Erza sat under a tree and talked.

"So I heard Mist was still at large."

"That's true." Erza admitted.

"Are you going to go after her?" Mirajane asked.

"In time." As Erza said this, she heard Natsu, Grey, Happy, and Lucy calling for her. The sight of them made her smile.

"And when I do, I know I'll have my friends right by my side!"

 _ **The End**_


End file.
